While the debate goes on as to whether tomatoes are classified a fruit or a vegetable, there’s no doubt they are delicious and incredibly healthy for you! Just for the record, they are technically a fruit.

For some people eating tomatoes is an acquired taste. They aren’t something you usually see youngster munching on or asking for, like you might an apple, banana, or carrot. Nonetheless, tomatoes are something you should incorporate into your healthy eating plan for a number of sensible reasons.

Heart Health

It’s no secret that tomatoes are loaded with vitamin C, the jelly-ish substance surrounding each seed. Moreover, this vitamin abundance is linked to lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke. This red fruit is also high in salicylates, which act as a blood thinner to also protect the heart and its critical functions.

More Lycopene

This antioxidant helps battle those nasty free radicals looking to create disease. The skin is where you’ll find this protective agent so make sure you don’t peel your tomatoes.

Strong Bones And Teeth

The vitamin K in tomatoes promotes blood clotting and strong bones.

More Vitamin A

This vitamin is responsible for healthy hair, nails, bones, and teeth. In just 1 cup of tomatoes, the average woman gets about half the recommended amount of vitamin A.

So How Do You Get More Tomatoes Into Your Day?

1. Eat It Like An Apple

This doesn’t work for everyone but if you like tomatoes try eating it just like you would an apple. You may want to sprinkle a little pepper on it to balance the sweetness. A super easy snack that is excellent for your health. Moreover, cherry or grape tomatoes are super sweet little tasty snacks that fill you up with very few calories.

2. Stuff It

You can eat them cold but stuffing tomatoes with tuna or chicken salad or any salad you love. Tossing them on the grill or oven is a fabulous way to jazz up your nutrition as the nutritional value in tomatoes increases when they are cooked. Just cut out the top, scoop out the middle and add rice, cheese, broccoli, or anything else you want to try.

3. Barbecued

There’s nothing tastier than a sweet red tomato drizzled in olive oil with some salt and pepper, grilled on the barbecue.

4. Mash Them Up!

Put your fresh tomatoes in a blender to puree them and add them to your soup, stews, or pasta sauce. You can even make a tasty sauce for your stir-fry or dip for your bread.

5. Homemade Tomato Soup

Even if you don’t really like the store bought tomato soup you should try making your own. This gives you the ability to spice it up just how you like it. Moreover, it’s easy to make a fresh vegetable soup from this tomato base too. Tasty!

6. Tomato And Bacon Sandwich

I remember as a kid watching my mom and dad eat tomato sandwiches and I thought that was totally disgusting. Funny how things change. As an adult, I absolutely love grilled tomato sandwiches with or without bacon.

7. Rainbow Tomato Salad

Tomatoes come is all sorts of colors and sizes. Jazz up your salad by adding deep red, yellow, and even orange tomatoes. They give your usual salad a nice punch, a rainbow of flavors and the nutritional benefits are endless.

The good news with tomatoes is that any way you slice them, hot or cold, pureed or whole, they are excellent for your health and super low in calories.

When you heat them, it increases the bioavailability, making them ultra-healthy and protective, and when you eat them just as they are the skin provides those sought after antioxidants that will build your immune system strong.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. Get creative and make sure you get a healthy dose of tomatoes into your eating plan each and every day.

Tomatoes rock!